FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany's powerful IG Metall engineering union wants jobs protected amid talk that Thyssenkrupp (TKAG.DE) and India's Tata Steel (TISC.NS) could combine their European steel operations, a union official was quoted as saying on Saturday.
"No matter if or who takes a stake, there must be no jobs lost here," IG Metall's regional head in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Knut Giesler, told the Rheinische Post newspaper.
"Guarantees for jobs, locations and co decision-making rights are at the top of our list; they are prerequisites for any type of partnership," he said.
ThyssenKrupp has been engaged for some time in consolidation talks, the paper quoted him as saying.
"But the Tata model is only one possible option. (Thyssenkrupp's chief executive) Heinrich Hiesinger told us that while the company sees a basic need for consolidation, there was no time pressure," Giesler said.
A source aware of the talks told Reuters earlier this month the discussions had been going on for about a year but declined to comment on their current status.
Giesler also said that IG Metall would hold a day of protest in the city of Duisburg in North Rhine-Westphalia on Monday against plans by the European Commission to toughen carbon emission certificate rules for the steel industry.
(Reporting by Jonathan Gould; Editing by Greg Mahlich)